Minerals from Different Locations

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Pyrite, or Iron Pyrite, is an Iron sulfide with isometric Crystals that usually appear as cubes.  It is brittle and can break or powder easily.  Its metallic luster and brass yellow hue have earned it the nickname of "fool's gold" due to many miners mistaken it for the real thing.  Ironically, small quantities of actual gold are sometimes found in Pyrite.  It is the most common of the sulfide minerals and is usually found with other sulfides or oxides in Quartz veins, sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. 

Pyrite Nugget

Copper is a reddish colored metal with a high electrical and thermal conductivity.  It has its characteristic color because it reflects red and orange light and absorbs other frequencies in the visible spectrum due to its band structure.  It is in the same family as Silver and Gold and is a malleable metal.  It is beautiful natural or polished.

Copper Freeform

Jasper is an opaque, impure variety of Quartz that is usually red, yellow or brown in color.  Jasper can appear as an opaque rock with shades of red due to mineral impurities.  Patterns can arise from the formation process and flow patterns in the sediment or volcanic ash that was saturated with silica which formed the banding or swirling designs in the rock.

Ocean Jasper

Another  photo.

Corundum is a Crystalline form of Aluminum Oxide and one of the rock forming minerals.  It is naturally clear but can have different colors when impurities are present.  Transparent specimens are used as gems, such as Ruby if red, while all other colors are called Sapphire.  Corundum is commonly used as an abrasive on everything from sandpaper to large machines used in machining metals, plastics and wood.

Corundum

Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Desert Roses are rosette shaped Gypsum with outer druze of sand or with sand throughout and often sand colored. 

Desert Rose

Calcite is a Carbonate mineral that is most widely distributed on the Earth's surface.  It is a common constituent of sedimentary rocks with Limestone in particular.  A Calcite formation can take on many different shapes and sizes which is dependent on the location, ground water occurrence and temperature.  Calcite is usually white or colorless but can be gray, red, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown or black.  The deeper the color is usually indicative of the definitive impurities from the earth or water.

Calcite

Geodes are geological rock formations which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks.  They are essentially rock cavities or vugs with internal Crystal formations or concentric banding.  The exterior is generally Limestone while the interior contains Quartz Crystals and/or Chalcedony deposits.  If the Geode is completely filled with Crystal, being solid all the way through, it is then called a nodule.

Geode

Barite is a mineral consisting of Barium sulfate and is generally white or colorless.  It is used in the manufacture of paints and paper.  Although Barite contains a 'heavy' metal, Barium, it is not considered to be a toxic chemical because of its extreme insolubility.

Barite

M309b  This is something different for any collector.  Here is a very nice, very pretty Selenite Crystal from Utah.  It measures 2 1/2" x 3" x 5/8" and has a natural shiny appearance.  A great conversation piece or use it wire wrap a new piece of jewelry.

Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, are the four Crystalline varieties of Gypsum.  It is a very soft material composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Selenite is often transparent and colorless.  If color is present it is often due to impurities or presence of other minerals. 

Selenite Crystal

Quartz is the second most common mineral in the Earth's continental crust.  It is mainly composed of Silica or Silica based minerals.  Although Quartz is known by a variety of names, the most important distinction between types of Quartz is that of macro-crystalline, individual crystals visible to the unaided eye, and micro-crystalline, where aggregates of crystals are only visible under high magnification. 

Tourmaline is one of the most chemically complicated of all Silicate minerals.  It is a complex Silicate of Aluminum and Boron and the composition varies widely with Sodium, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Lithium and many other elements that enter into it's structure.  It can occur in a long, slender needle-like crystal to a thick prismatic and columnar crystal to a radial like daisy formation.  It comes in many colors usually black and brown (iron rich); brown and yellow (magnesium rich); and blue, red, green, yellow, and pink (lithium rich). 

Crystal Quartz-Tourmaline

Sulfur, also known as Sulphur, is an abundant, multivalent non-metal mineral.  In its native form, it is a yellow Crystalline solid.  In nature, it can be found as the pure element in sulfide and/or sulfate minerals.  It is an essential element for life.  The primary uses are in the manufacture of fertilizers, gun powder, matches, insecticides and fungicides.

Sulfur

Prehnite is a Phyllosilicate mixture of Calcium and Aluminum.  Although it is not a Zeolite, it is often associated with them and with Datolite and Calcite, in veins and cavities of Basaltic rocks, sometimes in Granites, Syenites or Gneisses.  The color varies from light green to grey to white to yellow or a mix of colors.  It is translucent.

Prehnite-Epidote

Another photo.

Sulfur is an abundant, tasteless, multivalent non metal mineral.  In its native form, it is a yellow crystalline solid.  It can be found as a pure element or as Sulfide and/or Sulfate minerals.  It is primarily used commercially in fertilizers but is also widely used in gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides.  It may have a faint odor similar to that of matches which is often from the composition of the hydrogen in the sulfuric compounds.  When heated, Sulfur will turn into a blood red liquid and when burned it emits a blue flame and the peculiar, notable odor.

Pyrite-Quartz

Quartz is the second most common mineral in the Earth's continental crust.  It is mainly composed of Silica or Silica based minerals.  Although Quartz is known by a variety of names, the most important distinction between types of Quartz is that of macro-crystalline, individual crystals visible to the unaided eye, and micro-crystalline, where aggregates of crystals are only visible under high magnification.  There are many forms of Quartz including Chalcedony, Amethyst, Citrine, and Carnelian which are results of mineral impurities or heat treatments.

Vera Cruz Amethyst Crystal  Cluster

Another photo.

Hemimorphite is a sorosilicate mineral that is chiefly associated with Smithsonite.  It commonly forms crystalline crusts and layers and also massive, granular, rounded aggregates or finely shaped clusters of crystals.  It may fluorescence a strong green in UV short wave light and weak pink in UV long wave light.

Another photo.

Limonite is an ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated Iron Oxide-Hydroxide of varying composition of minerals such as Goethite, Lepidocrocite, or Jarosite.  It has been mined with Hematite as an Ore for the production of Iron. Limonite is heavy and has a yellow-brown color.  It is often used as the pigment ochre in many paints.

Hemimorphite-Limonite

Mica is from the group of sheet Silicate minerals.  Mica is widely distributed and occurs in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary regions throughout the world.  Large Mica Crystals are used for various applications and are typically mined from Granitic Pegmatites.  It has a high dielectric strength and excellent chemical stability which makes it favorable in the manufacturing of capacitors for radio frequency applications.  It is also used in the manufacturing of glass that is used in stoves and kerosene heaters because it is heat resistant.

Ruby Mica

Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Gypsum Flowers are rosette shaped Gypsum with spreading fibers and can include an outer druze of sand or with sand throughout.  The difference between Desert Roses and Gypsum Flowers is that Desert Roses look like roses, whereas, gypsum flowers are a myriad of shapes.

Gypsum Flower

Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Desert Roses are rosette shaped Gypsum with outer druze of sand or with sand throughout and often sand colored. 

Selenite Rose